The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) Short Interest Update

The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 735,400 shares, a drop of 13.0% from the April 30th total of 845,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 263,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded St. Joe from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st.

St. Joe Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of JOE stock traded up $0.61 on Friday, reaching $45.92. The company had a trading volume of 131,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 225,088. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 38.88 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.76 and a 200-day moving average of $45.97. St. Joe has a 12 month low of $40.19 and a 12 month high of $64.69.

St. Joe (NYSE:JOE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $94.20 million during the quarter. St. Joe had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 9.58%.

St. Joe Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. St. Joe's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at St. Joe

In related news, major shareholder Bruce R. Berkowitz sold 160,300 shares of St. Joe stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $7,534,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,000,724 shares in the company, valued at $799,034,028. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JOE. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of St. Joe by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in St. Joe by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of St. Joe by 277.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 585 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of St. Joe by 7.3% in the first quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 7,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its position in shares of St. Joe by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 4,899 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 86.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

St. Joe Company Profile

The St. Joe Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate development, asset management, and operating company in Northwest Florida. It operates through three segments: Residential, Hospitality, and Commercial. The Residential segment engages in the development of communities into homesites for sale to homebuilders and on a limited basis to retail customers.